Senior Application Architect

Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc.; Taylor (TX); Hybrid; USD 135,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) seeks a senior architect/engineer to define and maintain scalable cloud and on-prem architectures for the Texas power grid and wholesale market.

You will guide solution design, drive best practices across the SDLC, and partner with cross-functional teams to deliver resilient, compliant systems. Based in Taylor, TX, this on-site role supports a hybrid model: minimum 2 days on site per week with remote work from Texas residences.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years in an architecture or senior engineering capacity.
• Strong foundation in application architecture, distributed systems, integration, and API design.
• Hands-on experience designing and operating cloud services in a major public cloud.
• IAM knowledge: OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML, SSO, RBAC.
• Familiarity with observability and monitoring tools.
• Experience with CI/CD and DevOps tooling.
• IaC and environment automation (Terraform, Ansible).
• Backend development in C++, Java, or Python.
• Comfort using AI-assisted development tools.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain application architectures across on-prem and cloud-native systems.
• Guide solution design, code quality, and SDLC best practices.
• Lead AI-assisted tooling adoption to accelerate design and quality.
• Shape cloud strategy and modernization across environments.
• Design IAM approaches and collaborate on identity governance and least-privilege access.
• Establish observability and meaningful alerting for rapid issue diagnosis.
• Promote Infrastructure-as-Code and automated provisioning.
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines with testing and security checks.
• Collaborate to define technical roadmaps and reusable patterns.
• Provide API design support, performance tuning, and troubleshooting.
• Ensure security, compliance, and governance requirements are met.
• Mentor engineers across disciplines to raise capability.

Skills

Application architecture

Distributed systems

Cloud platforms

Identity & access management

Observability

DevOps / CI/CD

IaC (Terraform/Ansible)

Backend development

AI-assisted development

Docker / Kubernetes

Security & governance

Solution design

Education

Bachelor's Degree: Computer Science, MIS or related field

Master's Degree: Computer Science, MIS or related field

Equivalent education/experience

Tools

GitHub Actions

Jenkins

Terraform

Ansible

Docker

Kubernetes

Dynatrace

Splunk

Prometheus

Grafana

Log Analytics

Job description

At ERCOT, our diverse and dynamic work environment provides a platform on which employees can work together to build the future of the Texas power grid and wholesale market utilizing the latest technologies and resources. We encourage you to join our talented, dedicated workforce to develop world-class solutions for today and tomorrow’s energy challenges while learning new skills and growing your career.

ERCOT is committed to fostering inclusion at all levels of our company. It is the cornerstone of our corporate values of accountability, leadership, innovation, trust, and expertise. We know that individuals with a wide variety of talents, ideas, and experiences propel the innovation that drives our success. An inclusive and diverse workforce strengthens us and allows for a collaborative environment to solve the challenges that face our industry today and in the future.

Key Job Duties

• Define and maintain application architectures across on-prem and cloud-native, microservices, and API-driven systems.
• Partner with development teams to guide solution design, code quality, and engineering best practices throughout the SDLC.
• Use AI-assisted tooling (such as Claude, OpenAI, or GitHub Copilot) as part of everyday engineering and architecture work—accelerating design, prototyping, code review, and documentation—and help teams adopt these tools effectively and responsibly.
• Guide cloud strategy and modernization—including workload assessments, migration and modernization approaches, and foundational design—across cloud environments.
• Design identity and access management approaches—authentication, authorization, single sign‑on, and role‑or‑attribute‑based access—and partner with security teams on identity governance and least‑privilege access.
• Establish observability practices—logging, metrics, distributed tracing, profiling, and meaningful alerting—so teams can understand system health and diagnose issues quickly.
• Promote Infrastructure‑as‑Code and environment automation to support consistent, repeatable provisioning and environment parity.
• Help shape CI/CD practices and pipelines, integrating automated testing, security scanning, static analysis, and staged deployments.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to define technical roadmaps, architectural standards, and reusable patterns.
• Provide support for development teams, including API design, performance tuning, and troubleshooting complex issues.
• Ensure solutions meet enterprise security, compliance, and governance requirements.
• Mentor engineers across application, cloud, identity, and platform disciplines to elevate team capability and technical maturity.

Required Professional Skills & Experience

Technical Expertise

• Minimum 5 years of related experience in an architecture or senior engineering capacity.
• Strong foundation in application architecture, distributed systems, integration, and API design.
• Hands‑on experience designing and operating cloud services in a major public cloud, with the adaptability to work across more than one cloud platform.
• Working knowledge of identity and access management—authentication and authorization protocols (such as OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, or SAML), single sign‑on, role‑based access, and enterprise identity providers.
• Familiarity with observability and monitoring practices—instrumentation, logging, metrics, profiling, and tracing—and one or more supporting tools (e.g., Log Analytics, Dynatrace, Splunk, Prometheus, or Grafana).
• Experience with DevOps tooling and CI/CD (such as GitHub Actions or Jenkins).
• Operational knowledge of Infrastructure‑as‑Code and environment automation (e.g., Terraform, Ansible).
• Backend development experience in one or more common languages (such as C++, Java, or Python).
• Comfort using AI‑assisted development and productivity tools (such as Claude or OpenAI) in daily work, with sound judgment about where they add value.
• Familiarity with containerization and orchestration concepts (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Working understanding of security, networking, and governance frameworks.
• Comfort leading proof‑of‑concepts and early technical validation—evaluating options, testing key assumptions, and turning findings into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Ability to design and govern application data models and integration schemas with attention to consistency, data quality, and alignment with enterprise data governance standards.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Ability to influence engineering teams and drive adoption of architectural standards.
• Strong communication skills for translating complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Clear documentation of technical architecture, decisions, and strategies.
• Experience guiding teams through SDLC processes, release management, and quality practices.
• Proven ability to lead modernization and cloud migration initiatives.

Preferred Qualifications

• Azure certifications (AZ‑305, AZ‑400, AZ‑104) or comparable AWS certifications (e.g., Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer, or SysOps Administrator).
• Relevant identity or security certifications, or hands‑on experience with identity governance and access management platforms.
• Experience with event‑driven architectures, messaging systems, or domain‑driven design.
• Exposure to multiple cloud or hybrid environments.
• Background in enterprise‑scale transformation or platform engineering.

Education

• Bachelor's Degree: Computer Science, MIS or related field (Required)
• Master's Degree: Computer Science, MIS or related field (Preferred)
• or a combination of education and experience that provides equivalent knowledge to a major in such fields is required

Work Location – Taylor, TX

• Employees will be required to be on-site in Taylor, TX at a minimum of 2 days per week, or more, as needed based on the business needs as determined by management
• On‑site schedules are flexible or may be rotated based on business needs as determined by the Manager
• Remote work is required to be performed from your Texas residence.
• Employees may opt to work on-site more than required or 100% of the time

The foregoing description reflects the minimum qualifications and the essential functions of the position that must be performed proficiently with or without reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. It is not an exhaustive list of the duties expected to be performed, and management may, at its discretion, revise or require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned. This job description is not intended to create a contract of employment with ERCOT. Both ERCOT and the employee may exercise their employment‑at‑will rights at any time.

ERCOT is firmly committed to equal employment for all qualified persons without regard to race, sex, medical condition, religion, age, creed, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, ancestry, veteran status, genetic information or any other protected category under federal, state or local law.

Expected Salary Range

$135,000 - $185,000